a sight for sore eyes. nfl fans show their appreciation for the league's referees as they return to the field. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome for this friday, september 28th, 2012. most of the d.c. area is ending up soaked after rains pounded our region overnight. it prompted flash flood warnings in parts of our region. the worst of the storms has moved out, but we're still seeing a lot of rain this morning. >> storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson is here with the skinny on this friday. >> i like that. >> the 411. all that. >> oh, okay. >> it's not an unusual term. people say that, right? >> the skinny. the 411. a lot of puddles down there. a lot of our rain down to our south and west around warrenton and culpeper. we are still seeing some rain

that i think is going to be completely out of the area by 6:30. let's head over to the weather wall. we'll talk temperatures and radar now. 65 degrees to our north in gaithersburg. 68 in college park. 67 degrees in benning, and 65 down in arlington. you can see the pockets of moderate and heavy rain indicated by yellow. shades of red and orange around d.c. inside the beltway. around clinton, maryland, all of that headed towards the east, including diehl getting heavy rain. forecast for today, mostly cloudy, patchy fog. 62 to 69 for 8:00 a.m. it will be mild again today. we're into the 70s. showers back soon. keep an eye on the sky. we could see showers south of d.c. let's take a look at first 4 traffic now. >> checking on the roadways for you, we're going to keep an eye on 66. that earlier accident at jefferson davis highway can

bloibl blocking the ramp. let's head over to 355. you can get by single file to the left. nice and clear as far as volume. no heavy volume to worry yourself about right now. here's a live look as you make your way past germantown road. the roads are wet. give yourself extra time. also looking at roadways in the district. not seeing any reports of that accident as you make your way past new york avenue and florida avenue. travel lanes are open. it is friday. that's something to be positive about. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> absolutely. thank you, danella. mitt romney will focus on foreign policy today. he'll speak by phone with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. this comes after netanyahu urged the general assembly to draw a red line to stop iran from having a nuclear weapon. the white house reiterated its commitment to preventing iran

from building a nuclear bomb. romney says he stands by yet an ya hue on this issue. romney appears to have ground to make up in states that could make up this year's election. he trails the president in new hampshire. that's according to the latest nbc news/"the wall street journal" marist poll. they're also locked in a tight race in the battleground states of nevada and north carolina. the president leads his republican rival by seven points in new hampshire. he's ahead of north carolina by 2%. that's within the poll's margin of error, which is 3.1%. and romney also trails in recent polls in virginia. the gop presidential nominee met with veterans and their families in springfield. he hopes next week's first presidential debate will give him some momentum going forward. >> you know i have a great opportunity with dates to talk about my vision for the country. the president will talk about his. those who believe we want bigger government, more intrusive government, trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see will vote for him. those who believe we should

encourage economic growth, support small business, and create more jobs will vote for me. >> that first debate will take place next wednesday night in denver. president obama is urging patience when it comes to this country's economic recovery. he spoke of what he calls an economic patriotism during a rally yesterday in virginia beach. >> an economic patriotism rooted in the belief that growing our economy belongs with a strong and thriving middle class. i won't pretend that getting there is easy. the truth is it's going to take a few more years to solve challenges that we're building up over decades. but i want everybody here to understand our problems can be solved. our challenges will be met. >> the president will hold a campaign event today here in washington. one person is dead after a wrong way crash in stafford, virginia. the accident happened around 4:30 yesterday along route 17 near stafford lakes parkway. police say witnesses saw a pickup truck suddenly speed up

and cross into oncoming traffic. the pickup slammed head on into another pickup truck. the driver of that truck died. his name has not been released. police charge frederick frostic iii with involuntary manslaughter. five minutes after the hour. starting today, d.c. police will relaunch their breath alcohol tests after a two-year hiatus. trained officers will use new calibrated meters to test drivers' blood alcohol content. the medical examiner's office will maintain that new equipment. d.c. police stopped the program two years ago when a contractor found the machines were not working properly. on top of the new meters, officers will still continue to do the standard field sobriety tests. we're learning more about the brutal attack of a d.c. man near eastern market. court papers show three men now in custody hit thomas maslin with a bb gun, knocked him to the ground, and stole his cell phone and credit card. they left him with severe brain injuries. police arrested 18-year-old thomas moore, 20-year-old thomas

branch, and 21-year-old charged as an adult. the three could be responsible for two other attacks that happened the same night. a group feels the kennedy center honors may be ignoring minority groups. the program recognizes artists annually for excellence in their field. the national hispanic foundation for the arts says latinos are being overlooked by the federally funded program. the organization's president says he contacted kennedy center president michael kaiser and got a harsh reaction. >> he use ed profanity and hungp the phone, hoping the problem would go away. >> kaiser would not speak with news 4 about the conversation, but he told "the washington post" he regretted using such strong language. when asked if the honoree process will be changing, aiken di center spokesman said the concerns will be given serious consideration. a new push to make sure everyone gets their flu shot this year.

also ahead, back to work. the greeting the nfl real referees received as they put their labor dispute with the league behind them. e.

the middle class, who move our country forward. work hard. raise families. and keep america strong. but mitt romney's budget plan will hurt the middle class. raising taxes on the average family by up to $2000 dollars. while giving a tax break of $250,000 dollars to multi-millionaires. doesn't mitt romney understand, we can't rebuild america...by tearing down the middle class.

priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

welcome back at 5:09. nasa scientists are sharing more findings from the curiosity rover mission to mars. they say the rover has found evidence that a stream once ran vigorously across the area that is under exploration. scientists already knew that water existed on mars, and they have speculated about channels. this is the first time they have seen evidence. the evidence comes in the form of images of rocks that contain ancient steam bed gravel. so far, they've been able to figure out that the water moved about three feet per second, and the depth was somewhere between ankle and hip deep. how about that? >> those nasa guys are smart. >> they are really smart. they are literally rocket scientists. >> literally. >> they are. they are. >> some good stuff coming out of mars there. coming up on 11 minutes after 5:00 on this friday morning. a live look outside for you now as we see clouds hanging tough over much of the district and even some rain drops in some of the other places. veronica johnson has the details. >> that's right. speaking of water, we still have

a lot of it. take a look at the radar, along route 29, 95, 301, inside the beltway, it's still plenty wet with moderate to heavy rain all headed off to the east through anne arundel county, calvert, st. mary's county coming down the next hour to hour and a half. 7:00 a.m., here's your hometown forecast for manassas. temperatures rising to about 71 by monday morning. as the rain ends, clouds back and a chance for more showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. your high temperature 81 degrees today. another warm one. danella. >> veronica, some good news on the roads. early morning accidents. first let's start at i-66 at jefferson davis highway. crash there, that's clear. also, inner loop of the beltway approaching 355. a jackknifed tractor-trailer was blocking the right side of the roadway. that accident is clear. now i have a new accident, i-95 southbound just past 198 in maryland. right now seeing an accident activity in that area. if you're taking the beltway in,

prince george's county, want to check it for you because it's nice and clear as you make your way past pennsylvania avenue. seeing wet roadway, not seeing any accidents, and that's good news. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> thank you, danella. 12 minutes after 5:00. getting the shovels out today in hopes of solving the decades old mystery over what happened to jim any hoffa.

15 after the hour. nfl referees are back on the job. the regular refs received a

standing ovation before they took to the field in last night's ravens-bengals game in baltimore. this is the first game played since the nfl and referees union reached agreement on a contract. players and fans were furious with the performance during the first three weeks of the season. commissioner goodell apologized to the fans for the lockout. >> we're sorry to bring our fans through that. we're sorry to bring the general public through that. that's, unfortunately, part of labor management disputes. >> the referees union plans to vote today and tomorrow on a labor deal. this will give you a sense of just how controversial those replacement refs were. one las vegas sports book is offering refunds to those who bet on the packers-seahawks game. seahawks won by a bad touchdown call in the final play of the game. a texas man faces extortion charges, admitting to trying to get money from redskins quarterback robert griffin iii.

richard hurd contacted one of rg3's agents earlier this year. he said he had information that would damage griffin's reputation and wanted is million in exchange for his silence. police arrested hurd, who played basketball for baylor between 2004 and 2007. he pled guilty to the charges and will be sentenced in november. a national manhunt is under way for a virginia man suspected of killing a new york school superintendent. investigators believe 42-year-old anthony taglianetti of woodbridge killed a school superintendent outside of buffalo last week. they say he drove to new york to kill him and is now believed to be back in the virginia area. police say the two knew each other but would not release a possible motive for the attack. he is considered armed and dangerous. police in minneapolis are looking for clues that led to a deadly shooting at a sign making business. police say the man went into the store yesterday afternoon and shot eight people, killing four and injuring four others before he killed himself. police don't know if the man worked at that business, and they're looking for a motive

behind the shooting. three of the people injured are in critical condition. today in aurora, colorado, files against theater shooting suspect james holmes will be made public. the documents will provide new details and insight into the deadly theater shooting two months ago. holmes is accused of killing 12 and injuring 58 more during a midnight screening of "the dark knight rises." he's charged with 152 different counts in that attack. authorities hope tests today will help solve the mystery of jimmy hoffa's missing body. police will take soil samples in a backyard of eastern michigan which will test for human decomposition. a man living in the area told investigators he saw people bury a body there in 1975 on the same day hoffa disappeared. radar tests show the ground has been disturbed at some point. hoffa was believed to be involved with the mob at the time of his disappearance. this video just coming into

the news room, investigators trying to figure out what caused a small plane to crash in nepal, leading to this fire. 19 people were killed. that twin engine prop plane went down in a field not far from the airport. just after it took off. the weather apparently was pretty clear at that time. as you can see in the images here, british and chinese citizens were on that plane, we understand. this time of year is a peak tourism season in nepal, which is home to 8 of the world's 14 highest mountains, including mt. everest. a virginia man facing federal charges after a tirade on board a united airlines flight. >> please help me! please help me! i can't breathe! >> this is cell phone video showing the man screaming on a flight from chicago to california tuesday night. police identify him as 26-year-old arash durani, a model and actor. passengers say, in addition to his rant, he harassed women and made threats. when the situation escalated, a group of passengers used their belts to hold him down until the

plane landed. a terrifying armed robbery is caught on video in florida. it shows several masked men burst into a sacks fifth avenue last week with sledge hammers. they smashed display cases, grabbed some jewels, and ran out. employees say they were scared beyond belief, hiding until police came. no one was hurt. a school bus driver under investigation after students shot a cell phone video. students shot the video because they were nervous the driver was not paying attention. the video shows the driver sending and receiving text messages as well as checking her facebook page. the school bus company says the woman no longer drives for them. a bangkok police officer delivered his 47th baby on the job. the baby was delivered in the back of a taxi. because the city's traffic is notoriously clogged, many expect

mothers can't get to the hospital in time. therefore, the city's police force is required to go through midwife training to handle deliveries. police say one baby a month is delivered for officers. can you imagine, you sign up for the job law enforcement official, and you become a midwife, a doula? >> how are your obstetric skills? nice work if you can get it. i didn't expect to see that video. pretty graphic. i think he was delivering the baby. >> i've seen worse. just saying, i've had babies. >> oh, 21 minutes after 5:00 now. >> it's friday. >> you would know, i guess. >> i would. >> here's a look outside for you folks. some clouds and rain to deal with this morning. wet roadways too. veronica? that's right. rain along the major roads this morning. the temperature, as you said, 67 degrees right now. under a mostly cloudy sky. we do have some rain out there. 63, the dewpoint temperature. so we also have some patchy fog out there this morning. as far as the radar goes, look at this.

it's dry throughout a good part of our area now after last night's thunderstorms and slow-moving heavy rains. we've got i-95, though, wet. areas along 29, inside the beltway, right on over toward annapolis, still that moderate rain. at least it's making its way out of howard county right now, headed toward 97. so a little bit hanging on, i think, for another 45 minutes to an hour. it's the same weather front we've had the last couple of days. it's going to plague us again today, producing more showers, maybe even some thunderstorms along and east of i-95 for today. we'll start to clear out behind that front, and that's going to give us a pretty good weekend now where we've got sunshine on tap for saturday. the front down far to the south and east. a little area of low pressure could trigger a shower sometimes on sunday, probably sunday morning, as far as the weekend goes. highs this weekend will be cooler than today, getting into the low 70s. as far assed too, 75 to 81 degrees with a little bit of

thunder south. as far as the evening goes, we're down to temperatures falling from the low 70s to the low 60s. for the friday night football games could be a little wet across southern maryland. your weekend, 73, a pair of them saturday and sunday. and another chance of rain on tuesday. checking the rails, if you are jumping on the rails, things look good for you. not seeing any reported delays. along the metro, marc, or vre, all running on or close to schedule. as veronica mentioned, if you're traveling i-95 in maryland past 198, rain coming down in that area. i had some good news. had a crash there. that crash has been moved to the shoulder lanes. your travel lanes are open. let's head over to 395. there i'm seeing very light volume. wet, though, but light volume as you make your way northbound and southbound. no accidents to report. in fact, clear as you cross over the 14th street bridge and make your way into the district. no incidents to report at this time. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> thank you, danella. 5:23 now. the cdc is urging everyone to

get flu shots this year. the agency says there are plenty of doses available this year. and the vaccine not only protects you from getting sick, it also keeps your community healthy as well. 135 million doses of the flu shot were made this year. about 85 million of those have already been distributed. still the cdc says just 42% of americans got a flu shot last year. discouraging news in the battle against childhood obesity. a new study focused on getting kids more active aren't working. researchers in great britain looked at programs where children wore motion sensors to monitor activity levels, they found those children were not much more active than when it started. researchers believe the kids might have started moving less at other times of the day, and it's also believed the program replaced playtime, which is just as active. the nationals could clinch a division title as early as tomorrow. >> in a 2-1, michael morris gashing this ball to right

center. see you bullpen. >> the magic number is down to three after beating the phillies 7-3 last night. gio gonzalez picked up his 21st win of the season, the most in the nmajor leagues. the nats' lead remains four games because the braves won last night. the nationals will take on defending world series champions cardinals this weekend in st. louis. the ryder cup takes place every two years and pits the united states against europe. the europeans won two years ago. this year's event takes place at the me dinah country club. the ryder cup continues this week epd, and you can catch it right here on nbc 4 tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. hockey fans, you may have to wait a little longer to see action on the ice. the nhl cancelled the rest of the preseason schedule because of the ongoing lockout. the owners locked out the players earlier this month after the two sides could not agree on a collective bargaining agreement. talks between the nhl owners and players will continue today. the capitals are scheduled to

open their season on october 12th at home. the big apple is adding to its reputation. >> the world's biggest ferris wheel is being built on staten island. the $230 million attraction will be called the new york wheel. it will overlook the statue of liberty, new york harbor, and the downtown manhattan skyline. the wheel would have 36 capsules, capable of carrying 40 people each. the structure would swing higher than the single port flier, the london eye, and the high roller wheel planned in las vegas. i was thinking that would be fun to visit, but now i'm a little scared. it's really high. >> fun to visit from the ground, take pictures, pose in front of. >> imagine the view from the top. >> can't do it. >> you know who's going to go? matt. that's his home. >> matt who? oh, matt. we have a lot of matts in the building. i didn't know which matt you were talking about. >> staten island, i figured you'd work it out. never mind.

>> 5:26 is our time. coming up, it is friday, folks. we'll give you a look at who's agreed to foot the bill so metro trains will keep rolling after the nats playoff games.

the wife of a man beaten in eastern market is speaking out as we learn more about the attack. the metro trains will run late on the night of nationals playoff games. and welcoming back the men in stripes as the nfl and its referees epd their labor standoff. we'll have much more on those stories throughout the morning. first, good morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> and good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. welcome back on this friday, september 28. 66 degrees and wet outside our studios this morning. veronica johnson is here with more on the rain still falling. not falling in some places. >> right. it's making its way out of here. it's along the major corridors of i-95, 29, 301 right now.

it is on the way out. so that's good. as it makes its way out of here, a good part of the morning is going to be dry. temperatures out there gooey. you're at 66 degrees. over to potomac there in fairfax, you are currently at 64 degrees. baltimore area. around annapolis, around diehl, this is the pocket. again, on the way out. probably only another 30 to 45 minutes in wet weather. and it's foggy outside. patchy fog, 62 to 69 degrees. for early part of the day. by lunchtime, we're into the 70s. keep an eye on the sky too. after about lunchtime, showers come back soon. high today 81 with a little thunder too. i'll be back in a couple of minutes with the four day forecast. checking on i-66 in your

first 4 traffic report. if you're making the commute, we'll head out there together. volume still very light. it's friday. not that many drivers just yet on the road. outside the beltway, same story. make your way past glebe road and head eastbound. about 11 minutes to get from the beltway to gw parkway. not seeing any reported delays along the metro, marc, or vre. all are running on or close to schedule. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> the man behind an anti-islamic video will stay behind bars. nakoula will remain behind bars until a hearing on his probation violation. he made the film innocence of muslims. a number of actors, actresses,

and workers on that film have come forward to say they were duped and were hired for a film about ancient egyptians. u.s. intelligence agencies say the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya involved a small number of militants with ties to al qaeda in north africa. according to "the washington post," right now there is no indication that the terrorist group directed the assault. four americans, including the u.s. ambassador to libya, were killed in that attack. the wife of a man brutally attacked near eastern market is speaking out about the incident. three men attacked thomas maslin last month at north carolina avenue southeast, robbing him of his iphone and cash. later that night, the trio robbed three other people. police caught and arrested them for those robberies. police found four phones when they arrested the men. one of the phones belonged to maslin, but only a few days ago did police connect them to the attack. >> i want people to know that they have a social responsibility in these situations. if they see something, i don't care if they're not sure what the situation is. it is so much better to say

something and to be sure that you have told the people, the appropriate people. >> police say they tried to track maslin's phone after the attack, but the battery was dead and the sim card was removed. maslin is still in the hospital recovering from brain injuries. pick up the pace. that's d.c. council member marion barry's demand to federal prosecutors investigating vincent gray's 2010 campaign. barry says the investigation is holding the city hostage. he also accused federal prosecutors of dragging out their investigations without getting indictments. three former gray aides have already pleaded guilty as a result of the probe into the mayor's campaign. today d.c. mayor vincent gray will unveil plans for the new ballou senior high school. the current buildings will be torn down once the new $120 million school is finished. the first phase of building is scheduled to be completed in 2014 with the second and final phase of january 2015. the new school will serve 1,400

daytime students and up to 900 part time evening students. the fbi investigating if a painting bought at a flea market was actually stolen at a virginia art house. a virginia woman bought the piece for $7 and wanted to sell it at auction tomorrow. it's actually a masterpiece created by french impressionist pierre august renoir and could be worth $100,000. turns out it may have also been stolen from the baltimore museum of art back in 1951. that auction is now cancelled. demonstrators are demanding fannie mae put an end to evictions from foreclosures. police arrested several protesters who blocked traffic on wisconsin avenue in front of fannie mae's headquarters yesterday. executives from the company later met with demonstrators. they say they're focused on helping homeowners who are struggling to hold on to their houses. 5:35 now. a former manager at virginia rail way express faces up to ten years in prison on bribery charges.

kevin pled guilty yesterday. the manager admitted he took a monthly bribe from a maintenance subcontractor for nearly a decade and received about $200,000. in return, he gave the contractor favorable evaluations that allowed him to keep the contract. court papers do not identify the other party involved. thanks to a surprise and generous donation, nationals fans won't be stranded at the navy yard during the team's playoff run. metro announced it will extend hours for all postseason games. d.c.-based living social will foot the bill. metro requires a $29,000 deposit to keep the station open past midnight. the nationals refused to pay the bill even though other sports teams in town do pay that bill. if you're planning on using metro this weekend, you can expect some delays. starting tonight, crews will be working on improvements for tracks on 4 of the 5 lines. buses will replace trains on the green line from southern avenue to branch avenue. same goes on the orange line from vienna through east falls church. trains will be single tracking on the red line between nomo

gallaudet and fort totten and on the yellow line from huntington to braddock road. all the work expected to wrap up in time for monday morning's commute. the search is on for this stolen puppy. why people who care for this animal worry he is in danger. e.

the middle class, who move our country forward. work hard. raise families. and keep america strong. but mitt romney's budget plan will hurt the middle class. raising taxes on the average family by up to $2000 dollars. while giving a tax break of $250,000 dollars to multi-millionaires. doesn't mitt romney understand, we can't rebuild america...by tearing down the middle class. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. [monotone] she says, "switch to progressive and you could save hundreds."

call or click today. it's every beer drinker's worst nightmare. a semi carrying cases of miller lite and blue moon turned over in colorado. gallons and l gagallons of beer over. bottles littering the road. the truck driver suffered minor injuries in the accident. he is believed to be okay. the beer, however, is not. >> people are crying over this video, at the waste. >> the waste of good beer? >> of perfectly good beer. there were some blue moons in there too. >> there's no use crying over spilled beer. >> 5:41. time for weather and traffic on the ones. storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson. tell us whether we're going to get rain all day. >> not all day. i think it's at least homer simpson who's crying. rain moving out, and it's

not until about 3:00 or so that i think we're going to see rain moving back in. it's not going to be everyone this afternoon if it gets wet. right now we have showers that have a few pockets of moderate rain north and west of diehl. north and west of areas of annapolis, maryland, right now. that is moving out. hometown forecast for laurel, maryland. temperatures in the 60s with that rain ending by 10:30. 71 with a mostly cloudy sky. the high today about 78 to 81 degrees. the weekend, danella, not looking too bad at all. back to you. >> all right. heading over to the roadways right now. thanks, veronica. as you make your way on 50 heading eastbound at 197, have a report of an accident in that area. again, the roadway is wet. so, please, give yourself extra time this morning. traveling 50. i'll give you a live look as you make your way past east-west highway. in both directions, your travel lanes are open. as you make your way eastbound

as well as westbound towards new york avenue, no incidents to report. and your travel speeds, 55 miles per hour. six minutes to get from the beltway to d.c. 295. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> thank you, danella. it is now 5:42 on this friday morning. coming up, why some

12 prisoners have been killed in a prison north of baghdad. attackers took over after setting off a car bomb at the gate late thursday. about 90 prisoners escaped. the prison has since been retaken. at the live desk, melissa mollet, news 4. 15 after the hour now. this morning we're hearing from the family of a d.c. woman whose body was found six years after she disappeared. katherine bryant's remains were

discovered in stafford county, virginia, last month. a truck driver spotted them in a wooded area near the northbound 140 ramp off of i-95. the 33-year-old was a mother of three girls. her family reported her missing in july of 2006 after she was last seen in d.c. they say they're devastated. >> the outcome could be this, it's like a dream. a bad dream that i can't wake up from. >> police say they suspect foul play in her death, but they haven't said how she died. court papers reveal details about the brutal attack of a d.c. man near eastern market. records show three men now in custody hit thomas maslin with a bb gun, punched him to the ground, and stole his cell phone and credit card. the attack left maslin with severe brain injuries. court papers say the three arrested could be responsible for two other attacks that happened the same night. police are not giving up hope that they'll find the driver who hit and killed a young mother in prince george's county more than a year ago.

u.s. park police want everyone to look at the evidence in the death of ebony johnson. she was hit and killed last september at the intersection of n naylor paroad and suitland parkway. several other cars hit her before they stopped. a body shop might have fixed the car that hit her. it was an acura 4l, between 1986 and 1989. the paint was black pearl or flamenco plaque peablack pearl. this is what police found in one culpeper, virginia, home. they say they found more than 100 marijuana plants growing in james berry's basement. the drugs have a street value of $300,000. officers say the house was rigged to hide the plants. there was even a trap door leading from the main home to the basement. this is the largest grow house operation ever busted in culpeper. a group is questioning if kennedy center honors may be ignoring minority groups.

the group recognizes artists for excellence in their field. the national hispanic foundation for the arts say latinos are being overlooked by the federally funded program. it recommends changes at very top of the selection process. >> we're not asking for a change to the current list of 2012 honorees, but i think that going forward there's clearly -- there's a clear need to revisit the producer of the show. >> when asked if the honoree selection process would be changing, a kennedy center spokesperson said the concerns would be given serious condition. this year's awards show is scheduled for sometime in december. it might have just been a prank, but d.c. police are taking a case of vandalism very seriously. police are trying to figure out who drew a mustache on a picture of fire chief kenneth ellerbe and flipped it upside down. police came and dusted for fingerprints and even filed an

official report. we have also obtained audio of two fire officials demanding to know who vandalized this picture. >> you don't want to be here this agency or under the direction of the fire chief, there's nothing holding you back. but as long as he's the fire chief, we all have to respect him. >> news 4 talked to ellerbe about the mustache situation. he says he considers the case officially closed and that the fire department has more pressing issues to deal with. 5:49 now. a warning for fairfax city residents this morning. a fox captured in the city tested positive for rabies. somebody called animal control after finding the sick animal lying in his driveway. there are no reports of anyone coming into contact with it, but police are using this as a reminder to stay away from stray dogs and other wildlife. a maryland animal shelter is offering a $1,000 reward for help finding this stolen puppy. the animal resource foundation in chester says a couple came in this past tuesday and played with 7-month-old mango.

40 minutes later the couple was gone and so is the dog. mango is a miniature pincher dachshund and weighs less than two pounds. the official says the move is to help prevent shark attacks. but environmental advocates say this is just a reactionry response that isn't necessary. the western area of australia has had five shark deaths this year compared to just 12 over the last seicentury. sheriff's deputies in utah got up close and personal with nature, saving a deer that got trapped in a manhole yesterday morning. the deer tried to escape the lasso, but officers were able to make sure it got lifted to safety. after it got lifted out, the officers released the deer into the wild. food will do that to you. you're walking down the street eating a hot dog or something, and you step right into the hole. >> you think the deer was eating

a hot dog maybe? >> obviously, he was going after something. >> he was texting. >> deer don't have opposable thumbs, veronica. >> that's right. >> but they do eat hot dogs while walking down the sidewalk. >> we've lost all rationality here. >> 5:51. time for weather and traffic on the ones. >> has it been a long week? i don't know. it sure was a long night for someone because we were rocked with some thunderstorms. will we have the same thing today? not over as big of an area, but we could have a few thunderstorms over southern maryland. let me show you how much rain we picked up throughout the area. take a look at fauquier county and culpeper county. that's where the heavy, heavy rain was last night, where some areas picked up a half to an inch of rain in one to two areas around culpeper. that rain is making its way out of here. as far as the showers, what's left? showers around baltimore, up i-83, and still around 97, annapolis area in diehl moving out to the open water. rain is coming to an end.

our temperatures will be rising slowly here through the morning. and then they'll be doing a little better by the time we get to 10:00 a.m. 64 the temperature in olney now. areas around warrenton, 64 degrees. 65 degrees in waldorf, maryland, right now. here's what's going on. we've got the weather boundary coming into our area. during the heating of the day, where we get sunshine. southern maryland, areas east of i-95, a good chance we're seeing some showers today. between 3:00 p.m. and as late as 10:00 p.m. there could be thunderstorms here as well. then we clear out. we'll get sunshine in here for saturday. it's looking nice. sunday not too bad either. partly sunny with a brief shower coming through. mainly across southern maryland and areas around the northern neck. as far as today goes, after 3:00, keep an eye on the sky. warm, 75 to 81 degrees. those showers continue until about 10:00 this evening. we'll settle on down to the 70s to low 60s. again, southern maryland the best chance. the weekend, 73 degrees for

saturday and sunday, not too bad. we're getting back to the seasonable fall-type conditions around here. let's get a look at first 4 traffic with danella sealock. >> thanks, veronica. we're all hoping the rain ends soon. starting to see more fender benders in our area. eastbound collington road. accident outer loop as you make your way in between georgia avenue towards connecticut avenue. i am starting to see some delays. here's a live look as you travel past georgia avenue. you can see these cars are starting to come to a complete stop. a lot of volume in the area. i'm back in ten minutes with an update on that accident. before that, i want to give you the rails a minor delay. six minutes on the brunswick east 890. i'll see you in ten minutes. aaron and eun, over to you. the government says there's a 9% increase in traffic deaths for the first half of 2012. this is the largest jump during the first six months of any previous year. a projection of january through

june estimates 16,000 people died in car crashes this year. the previous highest increase during the first half of the year was 6.4% in 1979. starting today, d.c. police will launch their breath alcohol test after a two-year hiatus. trained officers will use new calibrated meters to test drivers' blood alcohol content. the new office will maintain the equipment. d.c. police stopped the program two years ago when a contractor found the machines were not working properly. on top of the new meters, officers will still continue to do the standard field sobriety tests. coming up on 5:55 right now, call it a sign of the times. more people are spending less time getting a college education. cnbc's shartia brantley live with that story and more. >> many go, aaron. americans are still going to college, but many are president 0ing to stop their education after four years. a report shows new enrollment in grad school has dropped for the second straight year. that follows a surge in 2008 and

2009 as some unemployed workers sought refuge from the recession. experts say students may be dissuaded from continuing school in part from the increased amount of debt they've taken on from the undergrad years. state budget cuts have also forced schools to reduce financial aid for grad students. and facebook thinks it's better to give than to receive. the social networking site is launching a feature that allows users to send real gifts like chocolate, coffee, and flowers to their friends. facebook gifts is being rolled out gradually in the u.s. so here's how it works. a gift icon will show up on your friend's timeline, which they can unwrap virtually, and the actual gift shows up on their doorsteps a few days later. guys, this is facebook's first major push into e-commerce, and they will get a cut from each item sold. >> of course. that makes perfect sense. shartia brantley at cnbc, have a good weekend. >> you too. as if you didn't have enough

social networks to waste your time on, there's a new one that just popped up. it's called sypop that connects people through common interests rather than friends and family. so you can meet new people, bond over your hobbies, things that are interesting to you, i guess. it's one of several specialized new social networks looking to cut into facebook's 950 million users. >> the virginia state fair kicks off today, back by popular demand, the racing pigs. what's a fair without racing pigs? you'll also get to see grizzly bears and bengal tigers. also new, a virtual tour through the virginia state farms. the virginia state fair runs through october 7th at king's dominion. >> what's better than racing pigs? got to catch your dinner. washington has some of the best museums in the world for sure, and tomorrow you can check many of them out for free. >> smithsonian magazine is sponsoring "museum day live." hundreds of museums across the country opening their doors for

free. here are some of the local museums that are participating. the newseum, national building museum, national archives experience, and national museum of crime and punishment -- all free to get into tomorrow. you'll need a museum day live ticket, though. you can get that ticket on smithsonian magazine's website. the address is smithsonianmag.com. or go to our facebook page at "news 4 today" and all the information is linked for you. you put in your zip code, and it will list all the museums where you live. >> we're very lucky in washington. many of our museums are free already. we're lucky. an evacuation at a major airport because of a paper weight. when you see it, you'll understand why. >> we'll tell you why a police investigation could turn a residential neighborhood into a tourist trap.